Summary:
- Novak Djokovic defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert with a 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory on Tuesday night.
- The hard-fought Roland Garros result marks the start of Djokovic’s defense for the French Open title.
- The World No 1 is still fighting for form while dealing with a major change in his support team.
The 98‑time ATP title winner and the world no 1 over the past 52 weeks, Novak Djokovic, started his French Open title defense with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory against French wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
The Serb will be facing Roberto Carballés Baena in the second round at the Roland Garros.
Djokovic reached Paris while still struggling badly for form and dealing with significant changes in his support team.
Despite these factors and the fact that he is yet to reach a final this season, the tennis icon is still the 2024 French Open favorite.
Tuesday’s victory was obtained in front of a packed crowd cheering on their own player, which forced Djokovic to struggle his best tennis in Herbert’s service games.
The French player used his wicked kick serve and net forays to keep Djokovic at bay.
The latter commented on his opponent’s performance, giving him credit
for serving very well, for changing things up, for seeing every time I would step back for second serve
Djokovic added that the Monte Carlo, Rome, and Geneva tournaments “started really well” for him, further explaining that the first matches that he played “were great” while the second and third matches were “quite different”, which prompted him to not get over-excited about the result.
I thought it was a good performance for me, solid. Of course I could have done better, I think, on return games
Djokovic also reiterated something that he has been saying in the last few years:
Grand slams are the ones that are basically getting me up from the bed every day and knowing that I have to hit the practice courts.
The event marks Djokovic’s first grand slam tournament since he bid goodbye to his longtime coach Goran Ivanisevic.
The player is joined in Paris by Boris Bosnjakovic, former head coach in his tennis center located in Belgrade.
About The Author
